


TF RID: This wasn't How it's Supposed to End

by TheHiddenPredacon



Series: Elita One AU [1]
Category: Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: ElitaOne - Freeform, Grief/Mourning, One True Pairing, Optimusprime - Freeform, Other, Transformers - Freeform, Transformers Prime - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24190927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHiddenPredacon/pseuds/TheHiddenPredacon
Summary: This will be a story of everything RID 2015 failed to do/explain in the actual show to make it even more epic! Also will be adding a few characters that are in need of more screen time! It is also part of my very own Transformers Prime/TF RID AU where Elita One is alive! This is technically supposed to be the last "book'' in the series but my brain decided to go rogue and do this one first since it is on my mind!Hope you enjoy!  I know I certainly did enjoy writing this!
Relationships: Elita One/Optimus Prime
Series: Elita One AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779223
Comments: 34
Kudos: 24





	1. The heavy weight

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! this is supposed to be the last ''series'' in my Elita One AU for TFP but it's currently on my mind right now so I thought I would just get it out of the way and when I have nothing else to post I can post the other stuff! Like how OP and Lita met in the golden age(going to be a completely different one) or how were they like in this AU during the war(Also going to be another one I plan to finish)! It's sort of a series. I wished I would do this last but....yeah. My mind is all over the place with these. Hope you like it so far!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about how the team deals with the death of Optimus and mostly how Elita deals with it as well! Her confidence has been suddenly shot down from leading the entire planet. She couldn't do it. Not without....him. Do you think she'll ever recover?

It has been hours since Optimus went into the Well with the Allspark to save Cybertron. Everyone that was there grieved over the loss of not only a leader but a true friend. They didn’t realize how much they would miss him until the moment he was actually gone. Elita One was hugging Ratchet the entire time with her face buried in his plating as she sobbed over the loss of her loved one. They all stood there for a moment in silence to take all this information in that just happened. Some looked at one another with questioning or baffled looks on their faces. 

After a while one by one sighed and began to go on with their day while waiting for the others to slowly recover from the shock of Optimus’s sudden disappearance. 

_ Hours more have passed.  _

The only bot remaining at the Well that night was the only Elita One. She couldn’t help but sob over the fact that her friend, lover, mate was gone. When Ratchet left to go rest after the long big war they just finished she struggled to let go of him, thinking he would disappear like Optimus. Optimus was the only piece of her past that had actually stayed with her. She feared going back to her old ways of life. She feared none of them would believe she was his mate. She feared getting the door slammed on her face again like how the old council treated her. And what of her time power? How will she contain it? She’ll die if he isn’t here! She felt like a part of her was ripped away. Her other half. Just.. gone….. 

**_~ A few months later. ~_ **

Once Cybertron was half rebuilt and Vector sigma resumed making bots again. A whole new generation of bots started to emerge from the Well. Some bots from team Prime greeted them. In the time of those few months Arcee decided she would take a vacation for a bit, seeing that everything was under control. They didn’t need her for now. Bulkhead and Wheeljack were head of the construction bots company, Ratchet was the top medic that all of the future medics looked up to, Ultra Magnus helped Elita One running Cybertron as her advisor as of now since he was one for enforcing rules. What became of Bumblebee and Smokescreen you might ask? They were just looking out for the remaining cons that were left on Cybertron. Con hunting one could say.

They wanted to keep the peace of the planet. As everyone did their duties Elita One seemed to be struggling more than she liked...She didn’t think ruling a planet would be  _ that _ hard after fighting a couple million years worth of war. But it didn’t exactly turn out as she hoped…

She was sitting in her office while papers surrounded her desk. There were papers piled on the floor next to her, on her desk, even against this one wall. Magnus felt guilty for giving her so much work but it was what the people of the planet demanded. It was a lot of paperwork to sign. One day Ultra Magnus saw that she was kind of not reading the papers anymore and just signing them as bots came in. He stood in the back of the crowd that was demanding things from her. She looked stressed to the point where she was gritting her denta and trying to keep cool. 

‘’Elita One, what are your future plans for Cybertron?” One of the bots asked. ‘’Are we actually safe from the cons?” 

“I-” Elita just stared at them as she looked sweaty almost. 

‘’Elita, ma’am! You must sign this now or my town will be attacked!” Another demanded. 

“I-I-’’ She tried coming up with what to say but...it was just all too quick for her to respond. They were asking her a million questions at once. She normally didn’t struggle to respond but as of recent she struggled a lot and hated it. She felt like she was about to burst with anger but that was another trigger of her power. She breathed for a moment and closed her optics then opened them and narrowed her optics. 

‘’ENOUGH!” She yelled and slammed her servos the desk. Most were shocked at this sudden action. ‘’ _ Look _ , I need a moment to breathe before I threaten this entire planet. Would you all please kindly make your way out of the office so I can think, is that so much to ask?!’’ It wasn’t a request it was more of a demand of her own. Once all of them left, the door was shut behind them by Ultra Magnus. 

Elita sighed in relief of the peace and quiet as she leaned back in her chair for a moment.  _ ‘’Finally _ .” She mumbled softly. Then Magnus stepped forward quietly. 

‘’Are...you okay, Elita?” He asked. She looked at him with a look of doubt on her faceplates and looked as if she was about to sob. 

‘’I just…... This was harder than I thought. I-It’s not the same without him. I-I  _ tried _ .’’ She choked. Tears formed in her optics and streamed down her cheeks. Magnus frowned at the sight of her condition. It was worse than he thought. He wasn’t one for comforting bots but he tried his best as he placed a servo over her own. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help her but it was the fact he didn’t know how to comfort others. It wasn’t in his programming. 

The former femme commander smiled faintly as she looked at Magnus when he did the kind gesture. ‘’I don’t think I can do this…” She sniffled. “But s-someone has to take over that is not afraid of this and knows Optimus’s plans.” She frowned deeply.    
  
Magnus sighed. ‘’I can take over if you’d wish for now until we find a suitable Council.” He offered with a friendly small smile of his own in return. Elita stared at him and nodded. ‘’You knew him best. It’s fitting.” She replied with a small chuckle. 

Magnus chuckled for once. ‘’Why don’t you head back to Iacon? I believe your old apartment is still there for you to live in.’’

Elita went pale for a second then just grinned and nodded slowly as she stood up and walked out. Magnus decided to guide her to avoid any incidents with the other bots. With that she transformed and drove off back to Iacon. A nice long drive may help clear her processor.

_ Hours later.  _

Once she arrived in Iacon she transformed and had this sickening gut feeling all of the sudden. She didn’t like it. It felt ...eerie to her. It was almost a ghost town of some sort with the few bots in it as of now. She began walking to the very place where it had all started...The old apartment she shared with Optimus...or rather Orion. Or both. 

It was hard for her to go back there. She stood at the front of the door to the apartment and it looked as if it was never destroyed. The Omega lock had repaired everything decently. She took a deep breath in and held it as she opened the door slowly and took a step in while continuing to hold her breath. Once she felt she was fine she relaxed and released her breath. The apartment looked as if it was never broken before and it was restored to its former glory. 

She took a moment to look around the apartment as she walked around it slowly. Ah, the memories that took place in this apartment. So precious. Even the old pictures of herself and Orion were restored. She smiled for a moment as she looked around as if forgetting what the place was like. They did live in an old military base for the majority of the war and had forgotten what an apartment on Cybertron looked like. She just had Optimus to comfort her. That was all. Nothing else. Not even a proper home. 

Once she was done taking a look around she sat on the sofa for a moment just to have a moment to think. She tilted her helm back to look at the ceiling and smiled slightly. Ah, it was nice to be back home. Though, many thoughts and questions still ran through her processor. She couldn’t help it. They were finally home. But at what cost? Was it worth it? 


	2. The Burden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elita is now living in Kaon with Bumblebee! Will the new scenery help her sanity?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Chapter two is finally done! Like I said I'm trying to keep my promise in keeping this ''book'' alive! I hope I'm doing good!  
> I hope you enjoy it so far! I'm really, really happy with it! C:

**_~Three years later. ~_ **

A couple of years had passed by since the war was won and most of Cybertron was rebuilt. New bots and creatures started to be made from the Well, life went on perfectly. But not as planned….

Some bots still continued to struggle from the fact that Optimus was gone. One, in particular, was the most affected. Elita One. Optimus Prime’s mate. She tried all she could to avoid being at Iacon. To avoid the painful memories lurking there. 

She even tried to convince her friends to let her stay at their places for a couple of days which they had let her. But some kicked her out due to...her weird attitude and habits and not cooperating with them. They knew it must be hard for her but they couldn’t do much. 

Arcee seemed to be the most understanding. She too lost a partner or two. Though it was nothing compared to Elita’s relationship with Optimus. Those two stuck together like super glue. Even now she still needed him but that is not the case. She was in constant fear of someone triggering her to use her power in some way. She will never recover if she did. That’s why she had always stayed with a friend of some sort to remind her and keep her calm. If she stepped outside she would wear some sort of cape or cloak to hide from the public. 

Ever since Optimus left, her senses have been thrown off. It was just a major shock to her systems when he left. She almost had a power malfunction of some sort. It was just...they had all of these plans for when they won the war. None of them would be the same without him. Even ruling Cybertron under his name wasn’t the same. But this one time she stayed with Magnus in Iacon somewhere. Or he visited her. It was hard to say. Elita was a confusing femme sometimes. No one really knew what she wanted and the only bot left who understood her was deemed dead. 

One day Magnus told Elita to go take a walk outside for once since she remained in the apartment constantly and had refused to leave the room since everything seemed to have reminded her of Optimus. She didn’t like that feeling. The guilty feeling. The lonely feeling. When Optimus was around she always had someone to be with. She was never alone. She liked the feeling of their connected bond, that someone was always there for her. She had liked that little reminder every day. But with him gone, it was gone too. 

Even if he was dead she still tried to reach him through the bond but of course there was no response. Just the empty and lonely, broken feeling once again each time she tried. As she walked outside she tried to not think too much of her surroundings. That was until she had reached the Hall of Records. She was fine until she saw it and just stared at it. She blinked a few times, unsure if she should step in. After all, it was the very place she first met Optimus and Alpha Trion officially. 

But with a second thought, she thought it would be a good idea to collect Alpha Trions things. They probably shouldn’t leave personal items in there just up for grabs or to throw out. It could be important. The old mech was tricky like that.

Elita stared at the entrance of the Hall and took a couple of moments to see if she wanted to enter the building. Or if she could even bring herself to do so. It was hard. She took a few minutes but she finally took a deep breath in and entered. The place looked the same except only a few changes. There was an added stained glass window that had Optimus, herself, and Trion on it. A new addition because of the war. Along with an Optimus statue outside. That was also added. Alpha and Elita’s statues were at the end of the building in different poses. Optimus was more so in the middle of the newly rebuilt Hall. But those were also new. 

As she entered some were quietly whispering as if asking why there was an Autobot in there. Elita bit her lower lip and lowered her helm but went to the front desk and there was a new femme on the job this time. A new older looking femme. Once she spotted Elita she didn’t look amused as almost every librarian didn’t.   
  


‘’Name please.’’ The librarian said. 

Elita was caught off guard and blinked twice as she snapped her attention back to her.

‘’Uh, Excuse me-?” She asked in a small mumble as she was standing at the desk. Elita was nervous.

‘’If you want access to the Hall of Records library I need your name, ma’am.’’ She replied. 

Elita straightened up and smiled awkwardly. ‘’Oh! Uh, right! I forgot...it ...has, uh, been a while.” She rubbed the back of her helm. ‘’My name is Elita One.’’ She gave the librarian a curious look as if wondering if she knew who she was as she did her thing. But she seemed to not give any signs of knowing it. 

The lady looked up Elita’s name on the database but it appeared to not be there. “Apologies for the inconvenience. But it appears you are not registered.” 

Elita was stunned at the response and almost shouted. ‘’WHAT?!’’ She then noticed others that were now staring and laughed awkwardly, clearing her throat. ‘’I mean, swear I changed my name before the war.” She whispered to the lady and gritted her denta. 

The lady shook her helm. ‘’Sorry, ma’am but that name is not registered.’’ She repeated. Those words made Elita uneasy. She gritted her denta more and tried to relax. She ditched her old name a long time ago but it seems it needs to be resurfaced for a moment. She took a deep breath for a moment then spoke. 

‘’What about Ariel-?’’ Elita asked with a sharp sigh and lowered door wings. 

The librarian smiled when it was located. ‘’Well, why didn’t you say that before! Welcome back Miss Ariel! Would you like a new name put in?” With that said Elita didn’t waste time and nodded, giving her the information she needed and that had gotten her a new ID card which Elita was proud of this time. She still kept her Airel card for remembrance purposes. 

As Elita was now allowed to roam the Halls once more she recognized Optimus’s old work area and smiled faintly at the sight then continued on with her task. She grinned once she reached Trions office in the back but when she tried to open it she winced when there was a lock on it and looked devastated. A worker who just so happened to see her shook his head. ‘’Sorry, miss. No one is allowed in there.’’ The mech said. 

The former commander narrowed her optics. ‘’Do you know who I am? I am Elita One, Alpha Trions student and Optimus Primes mate. He was my teacher. I have every right to walk through this door.” She used her commander voice. One knew she was angry when she used her commander voice. Everyone else nearby who could clearly hear her, some reported her about noise complaints since it was a type of library. 

‘’I don’t care who you are, the council banned anyone from entering except the librarian.’’ The mech said. Elita seemed even more angry. It was enough to let white sparks appear from her servos that activated her time power. Her powers tied to her emotions. She closed her optics for a moment to breathe and once she calmed down she tried explaining what she was doing. 

“This is Alpha Trion’s office, knowing him he would want me or Optimus to collect his remaining items left behind. It is not trusted with the lengths of _you_. Now would you kindly please open this door?” She demanded and looked almost intimidating. 

With that kind of attitude, she had gotten thrown outside and the door to the entrance of the Hall slammed/locked behind on her. Elita was left on the ground when they kicked her out and when she got up she looked stunned and grumbled. ‘’Fine! Be that way! I didn't even want to come back anyways!” She yelled at the door and pouted with her arms crossed, just standing there like a pouting sparkling. Then, of course, it started raining and she huffed. ‘’Huh, What a way to set the mood...’’ She muttered as she looked up at the sky for a moment while the rain fell behind her. 

Tears started to form in her optics as she was waiting for the rain to pass. She leaned against a pole that held up the building and soon saw someone put a sign on the door. She took a look at it and narrowed her optics and scoffed. ‘’Very mature, lady! Very mature.” She shouted at the door and then smirked suddenly as she noticed a ladder that led onto the roof. What did the note say you might ask? It banned her from coming into the place ever again. But her smirk continued as she tried finding ways to sneak in. Perhaps…. 

She tried millions of ways to try and get into Trions office but it only ended up with her getting arrested but luckily Magnus was head of the enforcers so he just spoke with her privately in his office. 

‘’Elita, what were you thinking? Have you gone mad? You could have gotten hurt. Or worse arrested by someone else. You are lucky we are friends in the first place, soldier.” He sighed as he gazed down at a femme with a broken spark. He was almost yelling at her but he only yelled because he cared for her well-being. She, after all, helped him believe that Team Prime was more than just soldiers...but a family. Before he could not understand that but now he does.

She sighed in response as well. ‘’I’m...sorry, Magnus. Emotions got the best of me....” She bit her lower lip and rubbed her shoulders awkwardly. 

Magnus nodded. ‘’Next time, I would think twice before doing something rash.” 

Elita nodded and decided what must be done. “I believe I should not live in Iacon anymore...It’s just...too painful. Too much to bare.’’ She started to form tears but held back as she avoided optic contact for a moment. 

‘’I have assigned Bumblebee to work in Kaon with a new Cadet. Perhaps there is better?” Magnus asked. Elita thought about it and nodded. 

“I will send him a message as soon as possible.” As that was settled all of the arrangements worked out and she now was living in Kaon with Bumblebee. New scenery might help. One would think Kaon would be the last place she would go but it was all she had left. That didn’t remind her of Optimus that much. Soon she made it a habit to visit an Optimus statue that was near a bridge every other day that she found. She decided to make it a daily tradition to the Optimus statue near the Kaon museum. 

Sometimes she went almost every day if she felt like she really missed him those days. It depended on the situation. She would even buy a book at one point to read to him as if the statue were actually him. One day she was making her trip to the statue she took her trip to the nearest book store in Kaon and purchased one of Optimus’s favorite books she knew of. She smiled as she had an energon slushie to calm her nerves if anything went wrong. She every once in a while sipped on it. 

She walked over to the small bridge where the Optimus statue stood. She looked up at the statue as she was on the bridge and sat down under it and started reading to him/it. She placed her drink on the edge of the bridge sat with her legs crossed on the ground. She knew the statue was a statue but still read to it anyways even though he couldn’t hear. Or did he?


	3. The Mission: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bascially the start of RID starts here but with the addition of Elita! She is not having it in this chapter. Hehe.   
> Hope you enjoy!

Elita continued sitting down on the floor of the bridge reading the book she bought for the Optimus statue but as she was halfway through she stopped with a long sigh. She just flipped through the pages aimlessly, not knowing what to do now. So after she closed it and stood up, turning to the statue and placing the book on the edge of the bridge next to her drink. She sighed and looked up at the statue with her doorwings lowered.

‘’Optimus...if you’re still out there...And can hear me I…’’ She was about to keep speaking but she just started stuttering while she had her servo on the book then she gazed down at it in a disappointing manner and closed her optics for a moment, clenching her servos into a fist. 

“Oh what’s the point if you can’t even hear me? You’re dead..” She struggled to hold back any tears but then heard the sounds of a police chase and cars speeding. It caught her interest quickly and it took her mind off of….you know who. “Oh, would you look at that, dinner and a show.’’ She muttered to herself as she took her drink and relaxed an elbow as she sipped her drink while watching. She looked amused as she watched the scene on the bridge. 

~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Bumblebee and his fellow cadet were chasing down what they thought was a criminal was really Sideswipe. “There’s a 211 in progress.” The mech on the other side of the line told Bumblebee. He and the cadet transformed out of vehicular mode and had gotten there weapons ready, in this case they both were armed with pistols of some sort. 

‘’Get it in gear cadet Strongarm!’’ Bee announced as they moved forward to hide behind the nearest building near the statues that circled the bridge Elita was on. 

‘’Whatever we are doing, I am honored, sir!” Strongarm told Bee as they moved into position. ‘’I mean you were  _ there  _ right next to Optimus Prime!’’ 

‘’But?” The former scout asked with an optical ride. 

Strongarm sighed. ‘’It’s just...with all that you and Optimus did for Cybertron I just thought you would be made more than just...a normal street cop.” She told him. Bee just sighed heavily in response and returned to their mission. He looked over to the spot where the criminal was who was a red sports car speeding everywhere. 

‘’That must be our disturbance-’’ Bee said as he and Strongarm ran towards the bridge. They watched as the red sports car blink their headlights then made a scratch in the ground that was a circle underneath the Optimus statue. Strongarm scoffed in disapproval. 

‘’Right under the Optimus statue!” She wasn’t having it as she narrowed her optics and growled. Bumblebee sighed and lowered Strongarms gun. ‘’As exciting as this job gets...he’s not actually a dangerous criminal. That’s just Sideswipe.” He told her. “I’ll just-’’ He was about to say a command but just gasped as a reflection of Optimus appeared in the water. 

‘’Do you... see this….?” Bee mumbled softly in surprise. 

Strongarm sighed as she looked down and saw nothing. It appears it was only for him. ‘’It’s alright Lieutenant, you go on and meditate. I’ll catch our perp!” She ran off to go catch Sideswipe. 

~~~

Once they were on the bridge Elita got startled by the direction of this chase and had accidentally dropped the book into the water substance underneath. ‘’No! ” She tried grabbing it before it had dropped into the water but it was too late.”Oh come on! I had to pay for that..’’ She grumbled as she watched the book drop into the water with sadness. 

At the same time as Bee noticed she as well somehow saw the Optimus reflection and froze. Bee and Elita stood next to each other as they watched the ghostly reflection image of Optimus. 

‘’So I’m not going crazy and you see this too?” Elita whispered in a mumble in surprise as well. 

‘’No, Yeah, I-I see...I see it too-’’ Bee reassured her with a slow nod in pure shock. 

‘’Okay, good because I didn’t want to admit myself in a mental ward-’’ She muttered and they both watched as the reflection of Optimus point at the museum. It was like Optimus was telling them to go somewhere...but where? Why the Kaon museum? Elita raised an optical ridge and tried to figure out what Optimus was telling them. Then she noticed one of the planets that were on the building decoration glowed a little more than the others. Her optics widened as she realized. 

“Earth…?” She mumbled softly and looked down at the reflection once more and the Optimus reflection nodded. Bumblebee looked between Elita and the Optimus reflection. He was trying to process if this was real. Why was he appearing now so suddenly? 

‘’Earth? Wh-what’s on Earth..?” Bee asked Elita as she looked at him and gave him a look of uncertainty. She truly didn’t know why Optimus had pointed there. 

Meanwhile as the two stared at the Optimus reflection in the water Strongarm was taking her business seriously and trying to catch Sideswipe. He was doing zig zag moves under the statues. 

Strongarm pulled her gun out as she ran towards him and yelled, ‘’Pull over in the name of- AH-’’ She had to jump out of the way due to Sideswipe not slowing down. She groaned as she stood up and rubbed her helm. 

‘’Eat my exhaust!” Sideswipe cheered as he circled around the statues. Strongarm growled and this time yelled it once more as she pulled out her button stick and threw it at Sideswipe which caused him to transform into robot mode as he slammed into the statues leg nearby causing it to crack as he fell. As Sideswipe was knocked down she took this opportunity to put stasis cuffs on one of his arms. She put the other side on hers as if keeping him on some sort of leash. When he realized he was being cuffed he gasped as she pulled him to stand up. 

‘’Wait- what- ARE YOU CRAZY?” He tried arguing but he didn’t get a chance to say anything else as the statue began to fall. “Optimus Prime!” She yelled in concern then noticed Bumblebee and Elita standing still. She gasped. ‘Lieutenant! Commander!” She tried yelling at the two to get their attention. 

Bumblebee snapped out of it when pieces began to fall noticeably and he gasped, pushing Elita and himself onto the ground on the left side where the right was cut off by the head of the statue. Elita wasn’t sure how to react at the moment as Bee rushed to save her. Her spark raced as she was sitting on the ground. ‘’Are you okay?” Bumblebee asked her and she just slowly nodded. He smiled in response as Strongarm and Sideswipe made their way on the bridge on the right. 

‘’Lieutenant!’’ Strongarm called out. 

‘’I’m okay, Strongarm.” Bee told her for reassurance and stood up, getting off of Elita who continued to sit for a moment. Bee looked down at her and frowned. ‘’Are you alright Elita?” He asked. She had realized she could have seriously died just then if Bee hadn’t pushed her aside. Then as she gazed over the whole situation and found herself staring at the statue head of Optimus Prime. It was almost a traumatizing sight to see. Even though it was just a statue it was frightening to see. Just Optimus’s head and no frame. She also looked back at the water but he seemed to also not be there anymore. With that thought she narrowed her optics and stood up straight as she appeared to use her commander voice. 

‘’Who...is... _ responsible _ ?” She asked. It was actually frightening when Elita used this voice. No one knew her intentions as they were unpredictable with this tone of voice. Almost every Autobot knew to not mess with her when she was like this. She also had a hint of anger in it. As she looked at the two bots she found responsible, in her servos they started to spark with white sparks of her power flickering on. Bumblebee noticed as he looked down and gasped lightly. He tried to think of a way to stop her.

Strongarm stiffened when the commander looked angry and pointed to Sideswipe. She didn’t want to upset the commander any further. Sideswipe’s optics widened and was about to protest until he saw how angry Elita looked. He tried looking for a place to hide but with being cuffed to Strongarm’s, well, arm he gulped and wasn’t sure what to do. 

Bumblebee then finally stepped in between them and the commander, almost placing his servos on her wrist slowly. ‘’Woah, woah, woah! Elita...it is just a statue. It can be fixed. Just...why don’t you calm...calm down before you do anything ...that is unfixable.” He tried holding one of her wrists which she sighed heavily and the sparks from her servos vanished as she relaxed. He was right. It was just a statue. He held one of her servos in reassurance. 

Once the two settled down Elita took deep breaths to calm herself as Bee stared at the statue in shock. ‘’Optimus…’’ He muttered softly. 

‘’Uh, sir- Are talking to the statues  _ head _ ?’’ Strongarm was just going to ask what they were going to do with Sideswipe but Bumblebee narrowed his optics. 

Sideswipe tapped his helm for emphasis as he commented. ‘’Brain rust - So sad.” He snickered lightly as Elita and Bumblebee stared at them from the other end of the bridge in shock. 

“Show some respect!” The cadet that was cuffed to him grumbled. 

‘’Strongarm, take Sideswipe down to the station for processing.” Bee ordered her. Strongarm protested by starting to read off from the law book out loud as she had the data screen pulled up. 

‘’But sir -- A senior officer must accompany a cadet for -’’ Then Strongarm was cut off by Bee running away. ‘’Yeah, yeah, I’ll meet up with you later!” He waved it off as he ran. 

Elita seemed to have stood there as she went back to sipping her drink but then noticed the kids left because Strongarm wanted to obey the law and accompany Bee. The former commander stopped drinking for a moment as she stared into space. She looked back at the water below the bridge then at the statues head then back at the water. She groaned frustratedly and threw the drink on the ground, running towards the Kaon museum after Bee. ‘’Bloody, hell.’’ She muttered softly to herself. She just had this feeling of something pulling her to go with Bees team. It felt right going there and, besides, someone had to look after three kids, right? 

~~~ 

Meanwhile, Bumblebee entered the Kaon museum and the front desk lady spoke. ‘’Welcome to Cybertron’s history museum, do you need a map- ?” 

“No thanks -- .’’ Bumblebee had immediately cut her off and walked passed her. He was looking for something but he didn’t know what. Moments later Elita grabbed Bumblebee’s arm and pulled him to the side to speak with a whisper. “I know what we both saw but don’t you think we should at least talk about it first? You know, before doing something bad?” She asked him. 

The former scout was surprised when she had pulled him aside and raised an optical ridge at her then shook his helm. “I can feel something in here. I don’t know what it is but I must find it.” He told Elita. She looked as if she wanted no part of this but sighed heavily, rubbing her helm in slight irritation. 

‘’Alright, but you are not doing this alone.” She placed a servo on his shoulder and gave him a confident smile. ‘’Now...let’s go find this… object.” She told him and began walking around the museum. Bumblebee just stood there in shock. He thought she was going to say something else but they both resumed searching for what they needed. Somehow Bee and Elita ended up in the same place again. They both looked at each other with questioning looks as they reached the door. 

“You had the same feeling too?” Elita asked and sighed. Bumblebee just nodded and made his way over to the door control panel and pressed the middle button to enter. Elita looked out for any guards coming their way as the door opened for them with ease. The two entered a strange storage room filled with crates and then came across a space bridge. Why was it here? 

“A...A..’’ Bumblebee started speaking but Elita had cut him off, continuing the sentence with the same amount of shock. 

‘’A...spacebridge? What’s it doing here?” Elita asked out loud in thought and walked towards it. Bee followed behind and wondered the same thing. They both looked at it curiously. Bee was the closest to the control panel of the spacebridge and he gasped when he say Earth coordinates. 

‘’Earth coordinates- ? Why-’’ He was about to continue speaking until Optimus appeared again. 

“I knew you two would understand.” His voice was smooth. But it seemed also worried. Elita immediately came over when she heard it as well and looked worried. ‘’Optimus? Where are you, I-’’    
  


“There’s no time to waste. You must go to Earth. A new mission. A dire threat is among us. Go there -- and we will speak again.’’ Optimus kept speaking about a new mission and dire threat on Earth but he for some reason wasn’t answering their questions. They didn’t understand why.    
  


“Optimus, where are you? A-Are you in trouble? Please...speak to me. Give me a sign and I’ll come help....” Elita begged as she looked at the reflection. 

Bumblebee was asking similar questions but before they knew it Optimus disappeared again. Elita was stressing out and tried to calm herself down. If she wasn’t calm...well...no one is safe. She hasn’t used her powers in three years. It was unpredictable. Suddenly the voice of the cadet could be heard. 

“Uh, lieutenant?” Strongarm sounded concerned. Bee turned around to look at the two hand cuffed bots and looked as if he was disappointed in them. Elita bit her lower lip as she watched the situation. 

“Oh  _ PLEASE _ take me to jail this place is so much worse!” Sideswipe complained and Strongarm huffed. 

‘’Strongarm! I told you to-” Bee tried to knock some sense into the cadet but she interrupted him. Elita stood behind Bee with a small snicker. 

‘’With all due respect sir, regulation 201, section 4: A senior officer  **_must_ ** accompany a cadet for an entire shift. No exceptions.” She stated while reading off a hologram from her arm and got rid of it after explaining. Bee just sighed heavily. 

‘’Alright, fine. I’ve been-’’ Bee began to speak but Elita cleared her throat, hoping he didn’t forget her so soon. “We -- have been following a trail that only we can see ...that’s led by ...Optimus Prime.” He told them with a frown. 

“ _ THE  _ Optimus Prime?!” Strongarm asked excitedly. 

“You mean the Prime that is no longer  _ alive- _ ?’’ Sideswipe commented but he was stopped by Elita who gave him a look as if, if he spoke any further she was going to do something that’ll make him regret saying it then she looked at the spacebridge controls and tried to figure out how to disable the stasis fields. 

‘’Optimus Prime wants us to go on some epic mission to Earth?! I am so, so, IN!” Strongarm may have squealed a tiny bit. 

‘’No, Strongarm, it’s only meant for-” Bee tried to lay the news on her but he heard footsteps and he shushed them and hid behind the door to see who was coming. 

Bee grumbled. “Guards- I’ll distract them. You three, try to get the stasis fields off the spacebridge!” He told them and ran to the guards. 

‘’Already on it!” Elita told him as she tried typing in many codes and whatnot to override it but nothing worked and she grumbled. Soon she had gotten frustrated when she couldn’t break the codes and looked over at Strongarm and Sideswipe. 

‘’Do any of you know how to hijack a spacebridge?!” She asked frustratingly in a desperate manner. Strongarm looked at Sideswipe and yanked him. ‘’You’re a punk! Do you know how to hijack a spacebridge?” She asked him. Sideswipe huffed and refused to answer truthfully at first because of course he was in front of a cop and a former ruler of the planet. 

“No-’’ He said so flat they believed him but as he pouted they gave him a convincing look. ‘’Maybe-’’ He finally said and got to work on the spacebridge. Elita actually facepalmed when Sideswipe admitted and shook her helm slowly but allowed him to do the work. 

~~~~~

As they were working on the spacebridge Bumblebee walked up to the guards casually and began talking. “Hey! All clear back there!” He announced. 

The guards were star-struck by the fact that Bumblebee was here. THE Bumblebee. ‘’Wait- Are you...Bumblebee? Are you working here now?!” One of them spoke. 

“Yup! Just started today!” Bee told them with a sly grin. ‘’You guys are the  _ real _ heroes!” Then the grumbles of Sideswipe and Strongarm could be heard. 

Both of the guards started to be suspicious. ‘’What’s going on back there-?” Another asked as they tried to get passed Bee but Bumblebee wouldn’t let them and they started a small fight and took out their blasters. One of them even said he was going to get arrested for impersonating himself. 

~~~~ 

Meanwhile Elita hurried the two up to get the spacebridge up and running which they eventually did. 

‘’Bumblebee!” Strongarm shouted towards him and made his way into the room trying to get the guards off of him and he eventually did which gave him time to speak to them. ‘’Elita you should go through now! Wait for me there.’’ Bee told Elita and she understood and left through the bridge. “Okay I am leaving. Strongarm, tell the guards you tried to stop me but I escaped and Sideswipe…find another hobby.’’ He told them and ran through the bridge. He smiled as he walked through, remembering old times on Earth and looked at Elita. ‘’Ready?” He asked her and she smiled while nodding. 

‘’Of course.” Elita told him. But then moments later while their backs were turned they could hear Strongarm squeal. ‘’Earth!” 

Both Bumblebee and Elita looked at each other with a pale look on their faces and quietly grumbled. Elita may have twitched her optics. 

“Strongarm, I told you to stay put! Now go back through before it closes!” Bee yelled at her and pointed at the portal.

‘’But sir, rules state otherwise! I am staying with you.” She made it clear and stood straight. Bee sighed, knowing there isn’t a way to turn back now. Then the portal closed. Bee grumbled as Elita tried to remain calm. She was emotional all over again and emotions caused her power to trigger the most so she tried all the things she could to keep herself calm. 

Well, fan-fragging-tastic she was stuck on Earth with three kids. No shelter or a proper Energon mine. Could anything else go wrong?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I certainly had a blast writing it!   
> Writing Elita into this is so much fun and interesting!


	4. The Mission: Part 2

‘’Strongarm, you missed your chance to go back!” Bumblebee yelled at her and grumbled, unsure of what to do with two kids now. This certainly wasn’t planned. Elita groaned and tried resisting to scratch her optics out, out of irritation. 

“UGH Can this day get  **_any_ ** worse?! All I wanted was to just go for a walk! That was all!” Elita complained to herself in a small whine of distress as she watched Bee yell at the two kids. Well, there was no turning back now since the portal closed. 

He kept grumbling. ‘’Ugh, Strongarm, uncuff Sideswipe.’’ He told her and she looked for the key. Sideswipe looked excited. 

‘’Yeah, uncuff Sideswipe!” He cheered and when he was finally free he grinned and looked at his free arms. 

Meanwhile, Elita had finally pulled herself together and walked over to them. ‘’Okay, listen up, since this is a mission led by Optimus Prime himself I believe the next right thing to do is to stick-’’ She was cut off by Sideswipe speaking. 

He laughed. ‘’Yeah, forget this. And forget you! I’m outta here!” He grinned as he ran and transformed, driving off. ‘’WOOHOO!!” 

‘’Wait-!’’ She tried stopping him but of course, she didn’t catch up in time and she frowned deeply. 

‘’Arugh! Sideswipe get back here! Cadet, with me.’’ Bee looked over at Strongarm and she nodded then he looked over at Elita. ‘’Uh, you can catch up with your flight mode right? Uh, we gotta go!” They both soon transformed and drove off in different directions. 

When they all left Elita muttered the word ‘’together- I was going to say stick together-!’’ finishing her sentence when she was by herself but she just sighed. ‘’Yeah,...AS IF A PINK JET IS NORMAL!” She shouted back in response while staying where she was standing. She grumbled. 

‘’Fine! I don’t need any of you! I am resourceful enough. I can figure this mission out all by myself! I don’t need any of your help!” Elita looked determined to figure the mission out all on her own since the others clearly don’t seem to want to. ‘’Do not worry, Optimus. I will not fail you this time! Now...I am going….’’ She looked around to find a path that felt right and finally pointed in a direction. ‘’this way!” She seemed oddly confident even though it was a random path. She began making her way through the path she chose that led through a nice forest scenery. She enjoyed the views of Earth. Ah, she loved and hated this planet. But how could one blame her? 

This was where the war took place but it did have its good moments as well. Like when she reunited with Optimus back then. She began to frown a little as she walked along the forest by herself. She loved the peace and quiet but at the same time, it was eerie. She lowered her doorwings as she suddenly came across a lake that seemed to be surrounded by trees. She smiled fondly at it but then looked down at the water only to see her reflection. She lowered her doorwings more and frowned deeply again as she stared at herself. 

‘’You were a great warrior once….what happened?” She asked herself out loud and sighed when there was no answer. Of course, no one would answer. She decided to move along down her path that she chose. She kept thinking to herself that she won’t be of any good use to the team at this time. She didn’t have her powers to aid them. What good of use would she be? She sighed and stopped walking. 

“But I can’t just leave them alone. It’s not right.… Optimus wouldn’t approve.” She frowned and grumbled as she went back to the team. Hopefully, she can catch up with them. 

* * *

While Elita was trying to find her place within this mess of a team as she made her way back. The orange minicon named Fixit was trying to report back to Cybertron command but no one was responding. 

‘’Mayday...Mayday...for the three hundredth and forty second time…..mayday. This is  _ Fixit _ , caretaker slash minicon of the prison ship the Alchemor still on doo-doo-’’ He spoke into the comm, hoping to get a response. 

“Doo-doo?” He did get a response. But it was from Strongarm. Not Cybertron control. Bumblebee and Strongarm gave him an odd look due to the fact that he said doo-doo but quickly brushed it off. Fixit froze for a moment then looked surprised as he saw Cybertronian faces. 

‘’Uh, Duty ma’am!” Fixit had hit the back of his helm to fix his glitches. ‘’Oh It’s so good to Cybertronian faces after all this time! Where’s your squadron?” He seemed to look around excitedly. 

Bumblebee had then decided to explain. ‘’I’m afraid this is it. Just Strongarm, myself, and-’’ He looked around for a moment. ‘’Wait..where’s Elita? I thought she was behind us.” He looked concerned for a moment then groaned, pinching his nasal ridge. Strongarm shrugged when she looked around and couldn’t find the commander behind them either. She had no idea where the commander went. Great, now he had more things to worry about other than Sideswipe. 

“Don’t worry I’m here!’’ Elita announced moments later as she managed to catch up with them in her car mode. Which was some type of pink ferrari. She hadn’t changed it since the last time they’ve been to Earth. Bee sighed with relief as she changed to robot mode again. 

“Thank Primus, I was worried.” Bee said. 

Elita chuckled but then let out another sigh. ‘’Okay I don’t know why Optimus had led us back to Earth but unless he is trying to make us fugitives and get us arrested, he’s doing a pretty good job in that aspect!’’ She told him with a small grumble. 

Bee raised an optical ridge. “Uh, What do you mean?” 

“I mean technically we have probably already have broken several laws by now! Let’s admit it. Destruction of public property, Unauthorized spacebridge usage, celebrity impersonation even though you are yourself but they don’t know that but whatever! I’m probably going to jail for harboring and almost murdering a criminal. But you get what I mean!” Elita grumbled and pouted. 

Bumblebee sighed. They have been careless lately. 

Suddenly a beeping noise from the broken ship could be heard which caught their attention. “Uh Fixit?” Bee raised a brow. 

‘’Tracking systems are up and running, sir! There is one signal nearby. it is most likely a foogitive -’’ The minicon smacked himself. ‘’fugitive!” 

Bee sighed. “It’s most likely Sideswipe. Cadet, with me. Elita...uh.’’ He tried thinking of what she can do and she just grinned fondly. ‘’I’ll stay here and look at the list of criminals to see if I know anyone. Let us hope not.” Elita sighed and frowned. Bee nodded and began walking with Strongarm to find Sideswipe. 

Fixit got excited when at least one of them was willing to stay. ‘’Oh, it is an honor to be in your presence, commander!” He bowed slightly to Elita and she grinned. 

‘’Finally! Some respect around here.’’ She grumbled. ‘’How many prisoners were on this ship again-?” She dared to ask. 

‘’Oh, a couple hundred.’’ He casually mentioned with a small laugh and she winced. Well, at least it’s not another civil war. At least she thought. Then as she tried to concentrate as Fixit couldn’t help but ask ridiculous questions which she was too busy scrolling down the list to answer. 

* * *

Speaking of which, Sideswipe was happily walking by himself and found himself facing some sort of steep hill that led into a hole in the ground. A quarry. He hummed and jumped down, putting his servos up to his mouth he called out, ‘’Hello~!” His voice echoed throughout the caves in the area. 

And when he was further into the caved in area he did it again but then another person responded this time with the same exact echo. This human kid was star-struck when he found the Cybertronian and had his eyes widened big. They both yelled in shock when they were face to face, causing Sideswipe to fall on his aft. 

‘’What are you??” The human child asked. 

“What are YOU?!” Sideswipe returned the same question but then a roar interrupted their meeting and they both yelled, ‘’WHAT IS  **_THAT-_ ** ?” 

As they both backed up the poor human child was panicking. ‘’This isn’t happening! Nothing happens like this! Nothing like this happens here! N-Nothing like this happens anywhere!” He was just taking a stroll away from his annoying father but he didn’t expect anything like this to happen. The monster they were afraid of was a Chompazoid. He walked up to them and looked at the human strangely before looking at Sideswipe. 

“Oh, it’s nice to see someone else from Cybertron here!” Sideswipe spoke. Then he saw the Decepticon symbol and winced. He laughed nervously while introducing himself. “I see you’re a Decepticon! Uh, that’s cool! Name’s Sideswipe!’’ 

He then whispered to the kid. ‘’Psst, Get ready to role!” 

The kid was confused when he whispered but decided to do what he said. Besides, he didn’t want to get seriously damaged by….alien robots?! 

“Name’s Underbite. Heard of me?” The Chompazoid leaned in with a raised brow. He tried giving hints to who he was as well. 

Sideswipe tried to answer carefully but just shrugged with a confused look on his face. He didn’t know who this con was. ‘’Ever been to Nuon's city? No? That’s cause I ATE IT!” Underbite roared and lunged towards Sideswipe, attacking him. But luckily Sideswipe moved out of the way quick enough. The kid also ran away quickly as well. Sideswipe followed behind swinging himself above the trees gracefully. 

‘’Is there a clearing on this stupid planet?!” Sideswipe asked the human child as they both came to a small rest. 

‘’Uhh, over here!” The human yelled and showed him the open area. ‘’Wait, now we’re out in the open. How is this better?!” He asked. 

Sideswipe gave the kid a smug smirk. ‘’So I can do this-’’ With that he transformed into his alt mode and the kid gasped in surprise. ‘’Woaah- So cool!” He awed at the car mode. 

‘’Get in!” Sideswipe told him. 

“Into  _ you _ ?!” He exclaimed in shock. As Underbite came closer a roar of his could be heard and Sideswipe ushered him in by starting to drive off and the kid jumped in on instinct. 

* * *

Meanwhile Bee and Strongarm were having a nice chat as they looked for Sideswipe. ‘’I promised myself if I worked hard enough I might someday get a mission assigned with you on Earth!’’ Strongarm began but then narrowed her optics. ‘’Sideswipe just got a break he didn’t deserve.’’ She shook her helm. 

Bee sighed. ‘’He’s an okay kid he just needs to learn a little-” He was suddenly cut off by Sideswipes honking and swerving near them. Then Bee noticed the human child in the front seat and grumbled. ‘’Great, We haven’t even been here for an hour and he already revealed himself to a human.” 

‘’Ohhh so that’s a human?!” Strongarm walked over and poked the human curiously. Then Underbites roar could be heard again and Sideswipe took off, leaving Bee and Strongarm behind. ‘’I know what you’re thinking. Is that  **_really_ ** Underbite, the devourer of Nuons city?” He looked at them for any signs of recognition but all they gave him were looks of confusion as they backed up slowly and had their pistols out. ‘’Really? No one has heard of me?! I ATE A CITY!” Underbite complained and roared again, lunging towards them. Bee and Strongarm started shooting at Underbite but as the distance was getting too close they transformed and took off. Underbite started running after them.

Once Bee and Strongarm caught up to Sideswipe, Strongarm exclaimed. ‘’Sideswipe, what did you say to him?!” 

Sideswipe grumbled. ‘’It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t say anything! He just started running towards me!!” He exclaimed as all three of them eventually got away from the Chompazoid. 

Soon they made it safely back to the woods where the crash sight was and Fixit grinned. ‘’Oh great you you made it back!’’ 

When Fixit announced that they were back Elita smiled as well and gave him a confident greeting. ‘’Hey, Bee!” She waved him over to where she was which he compiled and walked over to look at the data pad she was holding. ‘’Good news! Soo as you were gone I have found that I don’t know anybody on this list which is good but there is one mech that does seem oddly-’’ She rubbed her chin as she was in deep thought and was going to continue but got interrupted by the roar of Underbite once more. 

Elita’s optics widened and she dropped the data pad she found in shock. ‘’What did you guys do?!” She bit her lower lip and lowered her door wings. There wasn’t time to explain as Bee quickly grabbed the human child and ran away as Underbite was destroying some equipment. 

‘’It wasn’t us! It was Sideswipe!” Bee told Elita as if trying to tell on Sideswipe as they were all backed into a corner. 

‘’Why are you blaming me?? It’s Motormouths fault for being a bad pilot!” Sideswipe complained as Fixit gave him a glare. Elita watched the entire situation and grumbled. She wanted to tell Bee that was not how proper leadership worked when he blamed it on someone else. That’s just being a child. 

‘’We could really use a Prime just right about now.” Sideswipe said while he gritted his denta. Funny, he should say that. Elita looked down at her servos with a frown then looked at Bee and the team then back at her servos. Then it was final. She made her decision about her powers and stood in front of the group as they were backed into a corner. 

‘’Aww how cute. You’re all stuck in a corner by the famous Underbite devourer of Nuons city!” Underbite commented with a devious chuckle but then noticed Elita and raised an optical ridge. He didn’t notice she wasn’t even flinching. Bee noticed Elita was in the front and looked worried. He kind of had an idea on what she was about to do. This wasn’t good. 

‘’No Elita! You’ll offline yourself!” Bee warned her. 

“Oh, I’m counting on it!’’ She had her powers at the ready as her optics and biolights that were on her started to glow purely white like the mythical being Vector Prime but with her not paying attention Underbite didn’t look amused so he just flung her across and it slammed her against a nearby tree. Most of the team gasped. 

“Elita!” Bee tried calling out to her but it looked like they were on their own now. She was knocked out cold. Her biolights that turned white flickered back to it’s normal blue color as well. The poor femme before blacking out tried to reach a servo out to them but couldn’t in time. The rest of the team tried to fight off Underbite but he just kept getting more and more….well….buff? He then noticed the Scrapyard nearby and ran towards it. He hoped there was metal for him to eat there. But the human child named Russell seemed to yell something about his dad being there. 

The team was confused on what a dad was but Bumblebee explained to the team for a moment. As Bee explained everything and argued with the team, Fixit gave them capture devices.

“Alright you three stay put this time. And someone make sure to check up on Elita!” He told them and ran off. “But sir!” Strongarm tried to yell after him but of course Bee cut her off. 

‘’No. You’re too inexperienced. Elita is out cold so I am handling this by myself.’’ Then he ran off to find Underbite. Momentarily the human child said he didn’t care what some robot had to say and went to the scrapyard shortly after Bee left. 

‘’Oops. The human ran off too! I better follow after him!” Strongarm snickered lightly as she thought she can take care of it and she grinned and began walking off. Sideswipe just shook his helm slowly. Then as he was left alone with Fixit the minicon began speaking about random things and Sideswipe got bored and left to find the others. Of course they didn’t listen to the part where he said they should check on Elita. After minutes had passed as everyone had left, Elita slowly started to wake up with a groan. When she was hit mid activation of power it shocked her frame and it knocked out her completely. “Guys….where did…’’ She muttered to herself, trying to figure out what happened as she was blacked out. She sighed when she didn’t find anybody nearby as they were all trying to handle the situation together. Bee made it pretty clear that they were all a team now. 

She made her way over to Fixit as she had finally gotten up from the soreness of her frame. ‘’Fixit, where did everyone go?” She asked him. The minicon perked up when he heard his name from the commander. 

‘’Oh they left to defeat the Chompazoid with a human or two in some Scrapyard nearby.’’ He told her and Elita nodded. Then she thanked him as she transformed and drove off, trying to catch up with everybody else. Elita’s optics widened when she realized there was a human there earlier. Scrap. Now they had to be extra careful. She almost panicked again but managed to calm herself down with a breath. If they had gotten humans involved this would be much more than a simple capture. It will become much more difficult.

She then managed to find the scrapyard and noticed that the team wasn’t there and frowned. Was she too late? She bit her lower lip as she then noticed footprints on the ground and stuff that was smashed. There was definitely a fight here. Well, it seemed she had to go search for them again. She just so happened to find them on the road, trying to block the bridge, not allowing Underbite to pass through. All of them ganged up on him. Even the new human friend named Denny, Russell's father, joined in. Then Elita decided to join in soon and transformed dramatically. 

“Why don’t you take a load of this?!” She asked Underbite which he gave a confused look in response as she blasted a white blast of energy from her and she smirked. Underbite looked exhausted from not having metal for so long. It was a misshot on purpose. 

‘’What? You think... a light show will save you?!” He asked then got interrupted by Sideswipe honking and the human child that was in him shouting. ‘’Hey, come and get it!” showed Underbite the squirrel metal things his father owned that Underbite seemed to enjoy. Underbite in fact did perk up and grinned. ‘’Ah, just the pick me up I need!” but then Sideswipe drove off elsewhere before he could grab it. The team that was left behind looked at each other with confusion. 

* * *

‘’We need to get him somewhere where there is no metal or humans.” Sideswipe said. Russell tried to think of a spot then grinned. ‘’The quarry!” The both of them seemed to think of it at the same time. Of course it was the place where they first met. Underbite followed suit as Sideswipe drove close to the edge of the curved ledge but didn’t fall. He waited until Underbite was close enough so he can make a move. 

The Chompazoid looked over at the red sports car and smiled again when the metal pieces he wanted could be seen. ‘’Gimme!” He shouted and lunged towards them. 

* * *

Meanwhile back at the bridge where the rest of the team was left Bee looked at Elita with concerned optics. ‘’Elita, what were you thinking about using your powers?! You know you could never recover! Why risk it?” He may have yelled at her a tiny bit but she closed her optics and sighed. 

“Because, Bee...It is my time. We must go.” She told him with a sly grin and confidence that she once had long before. His optics widened. He didn’t expect her to say such things but she left to where Sideswipe was before he could complain any further. Bee just looked uncertain of what he should do as he looked at Strongarm who gave him an innocent shrug but she followed behind the commander. Bee took a minute to sigh and then followed behind as well. Of course no one would be able to convince Elita otherwise at this time. The ones that could were either dead or on Cybertron and they were far from home. She was just as stubborn as Optimus was. Russell's father, who was concerned for his kid, just drove behind everybody in his plain car. 

* * *

As the team took some time to regroup Sideswipe was trying his best to make the Chompazoid fall into the quarry which the others helped, trying to push him in as well. Even Elita but Underbite unfortunately had gotten hold of one of Denny's metal pieces and ate it, making him even stronger and pushed everyone away, even the commander herself. 

‘’YEAH! Now that’s what I’m talking about! ” Underbite cheered and kissed his biceps before going back on all fours. ‘’Thundercruncher, Boltsmasher, do your thing!” He looked around and picked up Denny’s car of which he was in it and started to slowly crush it. 

  
  


Elita rubbed her helm as she slowly recovered from being punched the second time. She looked around to notice half of the team was out cold. She bit her lower lip then narrowed her optics when she noticed the human was getting hurt. It was time to get serious. No one, not even humans, will be dismantled under her protection! Not on her watch. She went out in the open where Underbite could clearly see her and she yelled. ‘’HEY!’’ She waved a servo to get his attention. Underbite looked over at her as he stopped to look her way. 

‘’What? This again?’’ He laughed out loud to show her that he wasn’t afraid. ‘’You think I’m scared of ya glowy light show? I ATE A CITY!” He protested with a roar. 

‘’No. But you should be afraid of  _ this _ !” Elita’s biolights and optics had turned white like Vector’s once more but this time she had used the energy properly and a white glow started to form in her servos. Then she had blasted the pure energy at Underbite. Underbites optics widened as it came blasting at him then he seemed to be frozen in place. Once Elita had used all of her energy after releasing the big blast of her power source she looked at her servos as her frame shook from being weak so suddenly but also from her frame being old at the same time. 

Bee just so happened to recover from the punch Underbite gave them previously and looked up to see Elita failing on him. “G-Goodbye…’’ She whispered to him with fear in her voice and fell on the ground limply. 

“NO!” Bumblebee shouted and immediately came to Elita’s side as he pushed everyone else out of the way, wanting to hug or touch her before she departed completely but she just looked so...so pale and unwell. He struggled to hold back tears as he fell on his knees next to the fallen commander. Sideswipe made sure to get the father of Russell safely out of his car since Underbite was currently frozen in time and placed him on the ground safely. 

“Dad!” Russell called out to his father happily and they both hugged one another, being happy they are still alive. 

Meanwhile Bee kept whispering to Elita’s limp frame, ‘’Please, don’t be dead, don’t be dead, don’t be dead…’’ He stuttered. One could almost feel bad for the poor scout. Strongarm watched Bee with a frown on her face and wasn’t sure how to comfort him. Suddenly a shadow could be seen looming over Bee and a familiar smooth voice along with it. 

‘’She’s not dead, Bumblebee.” With the sun behind him it was none other than Optimus Prime himself standing over the scout and commander. Bee looked up in shock as Optimus knelt down on one knee to look at the two better. 

“O-Optimus…?’’ The scout stuttered, not believing this is real at all. As Bee began to relax Optimus just gave a simple nod of acknowledgement and looked down at Elita. 

“I-I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know how to stop her. I-I- ” Bee spoke quickly but Optimus stopped him with a simple hand gesture and seemed to take out a cable that was connected to his own chest plating and seemed to placed it into a plug onto Elita’s end that matched his. Optimus held Elita close during this process, almost cradling her against his frame. He closed his optics and a light glow appeared around them which caused Bumblebee to back up in a startle, almost aweing at the sight. Elita’s optics had turned purely white again during this process as well but as the glow faded and it was over moments later he placed her down on the ground while her optics closed again in resting mode.

He disconnected himself from the plug and put the cord where it belonged and then waited. Waited for that moment to see Elita wake up again. He missed this dearly. Well, not the offlining part but the parts where he could see her again. He instinctively couldn’t help but trace a few of his digits against her jaw line. As he did so she gasped back to life and coughed a few times. “Man, what took you so long, I was about to go to plan B and beg Vector for my life back.” She commented and chuckled. 

Optimus smiled fondly at her and held her servos. ‘’Elita~” He whispered her name softly as she looked at him with a pure shock on her faceplates and slowly scooted an inch away from him. ‘’Or...am... I still dead?” She asked him and raised an optical ridge. He chuckled softly at and brought her into the biggest bear hug he could give her as he stood up. 

‘’You are very much alive, my love. As for myself, I am uncertain. I have missed you, love, but I do not wish for you to join me that desperately.” He told her with a small frown as he kept hugging her. She feared if she had let go of him he would disappear again too. She then gave him a concerned look as she hugged him. Then Bumblebee asked the questions. 

‘’How are you here, Optimus? Why did you bring us to Earth?” The poor mech had so many questions running through his processor. Optimus hummed for a moment as he looked at the team he had created on his own and gave the scout a confident look. 

‘’You have made the start of a great team here, Bumblebee. There will be two more waiting for you and it wouldn’t hurt to bring some old friends along. You are ready to lead, Bumblebee. You have been for some time. You will accomplish great things together.” Optimus spoke proudly. 

Russell and Denny just smiled as Sideswipe just kicked the dirt on the ground, unsure of what to do with himself since he’s in the presence of a Prime. Strongarm just straightened up and bowed to the Prime as if he were some god. 

Bee looked bashful and nodded, noting what he said with bringing back old friends. ‘’Well, we found each other actually.” He grinned shyly. 

Optimus nodded in acknowledgment to both. 

‘’Optimus, What is this mission? It can’t just be to bring a couple of cons down.’’ Bee asked curiously. He couldn’t keep it in anymore. 

“Try a couple hundred to be exact.” Elita muttered. 

‘’That is one of the reasons why you are here. As for the other, I am uncertain. The Primes have a plan for me, for all of us, but they have not yet revealed it.” The Prime responded to all.

Optimus then looked at Elita who was just staring at her lover, trying to figure out what he did to her. Her frame felt odd...but a good type of oddness. She couldn’t explain it. She blinked a few times then snapped out of it when he looked at her again. ‘’My love, you have been given an upgrade forged by Vector Prime that was given to me to give directly to you. You have received a frame upgrade that allows you to freely use your powers at your own will. You will not need me from now on anymore.” He reassured her. She started to stutter. 

‘’B--But, love, we will always need you! I need you! Please…. Please, Don’t leave me again. T-The other day, they kicked me out of the Hall of Records as if they didn’t know who I was! Th-they wouldn’t let me collect Trion’s stuff. Things have been worse since you left!” Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she looked at him. He cupped her chin and made her look up at him. 

‘’I know my love. I saw.’’ Optimus smiled fondly in reassurance and leaned in to kiss her facehelm then placed his own forehelm against hers. She didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. “Because of that I convinced the Primes to bring you on this mission as well. Now, I do not have much time left. I suppose you will not steer him wrong. You are to guide Bumblebee in his most dire moments.” He told her and Elita smiled faintly and nodded. 

The Optimus leaned down to give Elita a deep, passionate kiss. ‘’We will meet again, love. Of that, I am certain.” He spoke that as a final and soon he disappeared again, leaving Elita to be trying to get a hold of him again but she just ended up falling on the ground on her knees in tears. 

“Pl-Please...don’t go...not again.’’ She muttered softly and sobbed. The others just stared at each other awkwardly unsure of what to do. 

* * *

Hours have passed since Optimus disappeared and Elita had calmed down from being ripped away from Optimus for ...the third time?! As she was calmed down eventually the team regrouped once more back at the crash sight and a prisoner named Gimlock escaped but he appeared to be friendly so Bumblebee had put him on probation to see if he would be a worthy teammate. Elita was busy trying to practice her time powers once more, she needed to relearn some things again. It had been three years since she last had used them. 

Grimlock was celebrating his probation while hugging Strongarm and Sideswipe. After practicing with her powers a little Elita walked over to Bee and he gave her a fond smile. ‘’Are you alright?” He asked her and she nodded. 

“Actually, I’ve never been better.” She told him with a smile and he raised a brow. 

‘’Oh, how so?” Bee asked. 

She closed her optics as she smiled and hugged herself. ‘’I feel as if I’m closer to Optimus once again. Like he’s a part of me again.” She purred. “It’s not complete like it used to be but I feel he is here with me.’’ 

Bumblebee smiled at her and nodded then looked at the sight of his new team and placed his servos on his hips, puffing his chest out proudly. ‘’Don’t worry I -- We won’t let you down, Optimus.” He smiled as he looked into the sunset. Elita followed suit and crossed her arms over her chest with a smile of her own. 

Suddenly Grimlock walked over after hugging his new teammates and looked at Elita, squinting his optics. She felt awkward for a moment. 

‘’So, Are you some type of witch or somethin’?” He asked her and she looked shocked at his question and just groaned with a facepalm, shaking her head. The others that were nearby had just laughed. Ah, good old Grimlock. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, This was a long chapter but I hope you guys liked is as much as I liked writing! T  
> his was also inspired from an rp I did with a friend :3   
> Can't wait to get further into this fic! I have soooo many evil plans later on. tehehe. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


	5. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woooo finally done with this chapter! Sorry it took so long there was so much to write! Haha.  
> Elita basically invented Cybertronian Vlogging. LOL.

After lugging Underbites frozen frame to the base and putting him in the stasis pod the night before, the team decided to take the next day to settle into the new base of operations in Denny Clays scrapyard. The human child’s father was nice enough to give them a place to stay after seeing what they go through. 

Now about what Optimus had said about bringing some old friends back, Bumblebee grew excited about seeing Rafael and the kids again. Though especially Raf. He missed him tons. The boy had gotten him through so much during the war. But Bumblebee’s excitement had gotten interrupted by Elita groaning and rolling her optics. 

“For the last time Grimlock, I AM NOT A WITCH!” Her optics twitched as she gave Grim the most deadpanned look she has.

Grimlock only tilted his helm and squinted his optics at her. “You’re sure, you’re sure about that?” He asked which only caused Elita to facepalm. That’s when Bumblebee walked over and placed a servo on her shoulder as if trying to comfort her which it did help and she looked over at him, smiling. 

“So, how do we plan on bringing the kids here?” Bee asked her and she raised an optical ridge and started thinking. She hummed and tapped her chin in thought. 

“Perhaps, I could use my portalling ability to bring us places but since Optimus has given me this upgrade I am uncertain of what my powers are capable of as of now.” Elita explained with a deep frown. Bee understood and nodded.

She then continued, “Well, I shall start working on practicing then if I am the team's only way of travel. I do not wish to disappoint. But if it is to just teleport to our former base to see if they still reside there I think that will be no problem.” Elita grinned. 

Bee nodded again. ‘’And we should start looking for them, it might take days to find them without knowing where they are but yeah let’s start at the old base.” He gave the okay and Elita got into position to make a portal. She started making servo movements in which white sparks started to appear but not a portal yet.(Just kinda imagine doctor strange from marvel but white and blue portals for Lita.) The former commander kept trying her best to make a portal but each time it failed and sparks came out. Bee frowned at her as she began to worry while biting her lower lip. She grew frustrated. 

‘’I- I don’t understand. It worked just fine yesterday! It should’ve popped up by now! Am I not good enough anymore? Do the Primes see that I am unworthy?” She gritted her denta as Bee just sighed. 

‘’Relax, Elita. You are worthy. Like you said it worked yesterday and Optimus just upgraded you. I think I have noticed your power does seem to work when you truly believe in something. Maybe that works?” Bee reminded her and that gave her an idea. Which caused her to gasp and try the portal again. But this time she tried harder and a portal opened up to reveal the base on the other side. She may have squealed when she had finally gotten it. She hugged Bumblebee. 

‘’Thank you for the reminder!” She chuckled. ‘’Shall I go alone or do you wish to tag along?” She asked him.  
  


‘’I believe it’s best for you to go alone if you don’t mind. Besides…’’ He leaned in to whisper. ‘’Strongarm and Sideswipe don’t exactly... get along.” He winced. She gave him a fond look and chuckled with a nod. 

“Understood.’’ She grinned and waved him goodbye as she walked through the portal and it closed behind her after she entered. It was rather odd going by herself at first. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to be by herself due to some….abandonment issues. She lowered her doorwings as she gazed upon the remains of their old base: Hanger E. She hugged herself as she slowly walked into the entrance of the old base. It was eerie being back there alone. She didn’t like the feel of it or the energy it gave off. The place hasn’t looked used in decades; it was so dusty and covered in sand. 

She frowned in a disappointed manner. Well maybe they’re in DC? It could be the only explanation left that makes sense. She let out a small sigh and decided to take a small detour down memory lane anyways and walk through the Halls of the old base. It was so dusty that she could see her breath in the air with the dust. She decided to go down the hall where the berthrooms used to be. 

As she walked down she smiled at the fond memories they’ve had. But then she came across the quarters she shared with Optimus and frowned a little. She opened the door slowly and coughed as she did so. Some dust got into her throat. She also had winced at the squeaks the door made. It was so old. She hummed as she entered the old room which was basically a square room with little decoration except a single berth but then she noticed a crate filled with holopads and walked over to it. She sat on her knees on the floor next to it and grumbled a little as she picked one up. 

‘’Ugh, I was starting to wonder where these went.” She sighed as she stared at it then decided to hit the play button. She had forgotten what she recorded on some of these. 

* * *

In the holopad video, it showed young Elita trying to adjust the camera and focus it. Optimus seemed to be standing behind her but with his back turned due to focusing on something else with Ratchet. Then she started speaking with a cocky smile and small smirk with it. 

‘’Psh, they don’t want to see what Smokescreen is recording. They want to see the epic stuff! Not the boring old scouting work. They would want to see the commanders job! Which seems much more appealing! Optimus!” Younger Elita seemed to walk over to the buffer Prime that was behind her and he looked confused. 

‘’Mind telling the people of the future what you are planning right now?” She asked and smirked. Optimus still gave her a confused looked on his face. Ratchet who was next to Optimus placed his servos on his hips in an irritated manner. 

‘’Are you recording right now? Really, Elita? Put the camera away! We’re busy!” The old medic seemed to complain. Elita just seemed to roll her optics. ‘’It’s for future references! Plus we’re always busy it’s war. But the people of the future should see our hard work!” She patted the camera and seemed to hold it protectively. 

Ratchet was about to complain again but Optimus seemed to stop him with a simple gesture. ‘’She has a point Ratchet. If we do win or lose the people deserve to know what really happened.” The Prime defended her as always and she smirked slightly. Ratchet just sighed and shook his helm. “Fine, fine.” He waved it off. 

Then the video proceeds to have Optimus explain what they are doing and Elita recording it. 

* * *

  
Elita just sighed as the video ended and frowned. She missed Optimus immensely. She hummed as she decided to pack up all the holopads and bring them with her back to the current base. She wanted them for safe keeping and memory purposes. She picked up the crate of holopads and began walking out of the dusty room and into the hall again but that was when she heard voices and she froze. She looked around quickly for a hiding spot but she just hid against the wall at the end of the hallway, waiting for the humans to come by. 

* * *

It was a casual day at the base in Jasper, Nevada and Rafeal and Miko were doing their jobs. They were official alien hunters one could say. Well, Cybertronian hunters. Well they don’t exactly hunt. They just watch out for strange activity on the planet. If there were any sign of them left on Earth they would be the first to know about it due to the upgraded tech they have been given by Ratchet before he left as well. 

Suddenly one of the machines started beeping and Miko gasped. ‘’Raf we got something!” She piped. Rafeal perked his head up and came over. He recognized some of the readings. 

“It looks like...someone bridged!” He said as he grew excited. Did the bots come back after all these years?? 

“Let’s pack up and check it out!” Miko suggested and Raf nodded as they had gotten their bags ready. “I’ll get the jeep!” She told him as she packed as fast as she could and went down to their army jeep. They were both wearing army camo uniforms and a hat. Miko still had her braid in her hair and had the same hair color. Raf looked much older and still had his glasses. Well they both looked older actually. 

Soon they both had gotten into the jeep and made their way to the old base it seemed. They were starting to get hopes up that the bots returned to say hello or something. They just hoped it wasn’t a trick.

* * *

As Raf and Miko made it to the spot where the portal was they frowned when they saw nothing at first. Raf held the tracking device in his hand as Miko and himself got out of the jeep as they reached the old base. ‘’Looks like we just missed them.” Miko commented and frowned at Raf. 

‘’No, If it’s them I have a feeling they will stick around. Come on!” Raf ushered Miko to follow him into the old base. She made sure they had some mask on as well due to the extreme amounts of dust and ash. As they were walking into the base Miko noticed footprints on the ground and stopped Raf for a moment. 

‘’Wait! Raf look!’’ She nudged him over and he walked over. He raised a brow and noticed the footprints were huge. ‘’For some reason they look oddly familiar….’’ He commented. 

* * *

Meanwhile, Elita was still hiding as she heard the voices and couldn’t help but smile when she recognized Rafeal’s and Miko’s voices. She waited until the perfect moment to reveal herself and when Raf mentioned the footprints that looked familiar Elita stepped out as she held the small crate of holopads. 

‘’Fear not, humans! We come in peace.” Elita said to them and both of them grew excited when they recognized the voice. They both gasped and ran over to her. 

“Elita!” They both yelled enthusiastically. 

‘’What are you doing here? It’s been ages!” Miko asked. “We thought you guys were still rebuilding?” She raised a brow. Elita winced and laughed awkwardly. 

‘’Yeah,... about that. We’re not really here with Council permission. They won’t let us travel without Council authorization. The thing is...well, long story short, Bee and I were having a casual day with our work but I was mostly sulking over the loss of my dead mate, walking around Cybertron. He was in the middle of a police chase on the streets and somehow I got caught up in it then we both saw Optimus’s ghost or some form of spirit appeared as a reflection and he told us to come to Earth so we hijacked a space bridge with two kids that weren’t supposed to come with us but ended up being our teammates in this so called mission or two we are a part of’’ She took a breath as she tried to explain everything quickly. ‘’So in other words, we are supposed to be in jail for unauthorized spacebridge usage and several other things! So don’t blame me if there’s a Cybertronian prison ship trying to find us!” She tried explaining and calmed down, breathing normally again. She grumbled. 

Miko and Raf just blinked at her in surprise. ‘’I thought Magnus was in charge of Cybertron.” 

‘’Well, he was. First it was myself but I couldn’t..I just couldn’t handle the pressure all by myself. So then he led the planet for a bit then he also couldn’t handle the pressure and went back to cop work. He’s now head of the security department.” She sighed. ‘’Let me tell you the new Council has no idea what they are doing! I believe they are trying to make us Autobots look bad. Or something. I just have a horrible gut feeling. I just can’t put my digits on it. I might be biased about the Council but still! It’s been a weird week!” Elita continued and sighed. 

Ohhh. Now they understood. ‘’Wait, let me get this straight.’’ Raf started. ‘’So, You and Bee left Cybertron because you saw a reflection... or ghost of Optimus telling you to come to Earth with a team for this so-called mission?” He tried making it clear. He almost didn’t believe it. 

Elita nodded. ‘’Pretty much. Oh and he said to come get you for assistance and ….I guess that’s what I’m doing here?” She bit her lower lip and shrugged. She didn’t seem the same as in war. She seemed to have changed personality wise. With that new information Miko gasped at Raf.

‘’This could save Hanger E!” She grinned widely which caused Raf to smile and nod at the thought. 

‘’Save..Hanger E?” Elita asked and raised a brow while frowning. 

‘’Oh, since there was no more alien activity from you guys the president thought it was a good idea to close down Hanger E but with you back this could save it!” Miko squealed and decided to take out her phone and call Jack. ‘’I’ll tell Jack!”  
  


Raf tried stopping her but it was too late. ‘’But Miko, they are in a meeting I think!” 

Miko waved it off. ‘’I know! Perfect timing then!” 

Raf just shook his head and looked at Elita with a shy grin. Elita just shrugged innocently and knelt down on one knee to get down to their height. She forgot how small humans were. Moments later Jack finally picked up. He was sitting with Agent Fowler, ready to see the President about something. 

::Miko, what is it? We’re about to go into the room!” Jack sounded irritated because of the many calls she gave him. Miko squealed. 

‘’Look. Who. We. Found!!” She grew extremely excited and turned the camera around so he could see Elita and the femme smiled awkwardly with a small hand wave. ‘’Greetings, Jack. It has been awhile.’’ She chuckled as she was looking into the screen. Jack’s eyes widened when he saw her. 

::What's going on, Jack?:: Fowler asked, coming into frame and almost jumping out of it again. ::Son of a bald eagle, where did you come from!?:: 

"Cybertron," Elita said with another chuckle. "Hello to you too, Agent Fowler. Raf and Miko told me of your troubles with the president. Hopefully, we can convince him to keep you active. Especially with the new crisis we face with these new Decepticons." 

::What crisis-?:: Fowler asked.

“Oh, it’s probably no big deal really but we saw a ghost of Optimus and he told us to come here. So we did. We don’t know why yet. But we _should_ be in Cybertronian jail right now but alas...we were told by a Prime and didn’t listen to the council and hijacked a spacebridge.” She shrugged, unsure of what else to say.

“It’s just myself, Bumblebee, two kids, two humans, and a mincon. Oh And a Dinobot now. And a couple hundred Decepicons…..But uh, we got it under control.” She laughed nervously as her optics twitched while mumbling the last bit about Cons. 

::A...ghost?:: Fowler sighed. 

::Wow that’s a lot-:: Jack commented. 

Miko and Raf just looked at each other with a raised brow. “You sure you got it under control?” Raf decided to ask Elita and she shrugged innocently. 

::Sounds like what we need to convince the president.:: Fowler said. ::Can you prove this? With actual data?:: 

"I could send you the list of criminals if you’d like. I snagged it from the ship's log.” Elita said. 

::Please.:: Fowler replied. 

She then brought up her arm panel, digits ready to type. "Where should I send it?" 

Fowler told her an email address, and a minute later pulled out his own phone for confirmation it sent. ::I will get these printed out ASAP. Much as I hate to think of Decepticons running wild again, you've really saved our bacon coming when you did.:: 

::Can you make your way to DC?:: Jack then asked. ::The President will likely want to meet you, to confirm this in person.:: 

"Depends, can we get a secure location to meet? I'm fairly certain a bright pink jet or car isn’t something you see everyday, especially if we just land wherever. Also, I’m not technically not in charge of this mission, Bumblebee is. I just teleported down here cause I thought we could use extra hands and knowledge.” She smiled. 

::Bolling Air Force Base, Hanger B,:: Jack provided and sent the location to Elita to teleport to. ::We’ll be down there shortly with the President. Uh we gotta go!:: That’s when he hung up.

Elita nodded and had gotten the location ready to teleport to. She would fly or drive there but teleporting would be much quicker plus she just wanted to take advantage of this unlimited time power she currently possessed. She doesn’t know how long she’ll have it for. 

“Miko and I will meet up eventually as well! We have our jeep.” Raf told them. Elita also nodded to them. 

‘’Very well, I’ll see you all then!” Elita waved goodbye as they drove off and opened a portal to said location. She brought her crate of holopads with her as she walked through the portal and when she did she was in DC of the Hanger B helicopter base. Elita waited for the others to arrive. There was less security there so it was safe. 

Eventually they all did and brought the president along with them. Miko and Raf arrived shortly after Jack, Fowler, and the President came. They all had a nice long chat of what’s happening on Cybertron now and Elita almost broke down due to the fact the President asked her a sensitive question but she dealt with it and answered all questions properly. Then the meeting was over after a couple hours later. It was almost sunset. It was a very long meeting.

"We need to get back to Jasper first and pack up our stuff," Jack said. "Maybe you can spend the night, then we can head out in the morning." 

"Or you could bring the team down and they can all help us with the apartment," Miko said. "We'll probably need a truck too, for furniture."

“Uh, I don’t think it’s a good idea to bring the team. I think it’s best if I just helped.” Elita suggested. Miko, Jack, and Raf just gave each other looks 

‘’No offense but how are you going to fit with your...uh robot mode?” Jack asked and tilted his head. 

‘’My holoform!” Elita replied with a grin. 

“Holoforms…?” Jack raised a brow. The other two gave curious looks. She grinned and just demonstrated by transforming into her vehicle mode and made a hologram appear that looked like a very realistic human female. But the clothes were rather odd and she groaned when she realized the clothes she was wearing. “Oh come ON! I’m not THAT girly!” She pouted. She seemed to be wearing a light pink short skirt with a white tank top with her hair up. Her hair was brunet with it fading into a light pink dye. 

Miko snickered when she saw the clothes as the two boys were shocked to see that they can be humans now. Elita grumbled as she kept switching the clothes on her to decent ones which she picked a semi-see through white dress with flowers on it and a light pink leather jacket. 

‘’Woah, when did you get those?!” Raf asked curiously. 

‘’Like yours, our technology has gotten more advanced since we last met.” Elita told them and smiled. Her eyes seemed bright blue though but she quickly disguised them as hazel or some form of blue that doesn’t give it away. 

Miko was just admiring the holoform and how real it looked. She almost wanted to touch it. ‘’Oohh, can I touch-” She asked randomly Elita rolled her optics and held out a hand for her to touch. Miko grinned and poked it slowly. It was surprisingly realistic. 

Once they all finished talking Elita used that holoform the entire ride to the apartment they were staying at so she didn’t look suspicious. She followed the kids all the way back to their place. They all hung around for a bit and talked before it got dark and Elita had to retreat to her vehicle mode and stay in the parking lot alone. She remained in car form the entire night but seemed to be having trouble recharging yet again. Lately, she has been having trouble recharging and she's getting more and more irritated with it every time. 

It took hours but she finally almost fell asleep but as she began to close her optics tiredly she saw a dark silhouette figure in the corner of her optics which made hers widen and become concern. Out of being afraid of being alone she had put in her side mirrors to show she was kinda scared. “H-Hello? Wh-who’s there?!” She whispered in a concerned voice. 

But of course there was no response and she finally decided to try and recharge again but all night she struggled until early morning when the sun came up she finally went to recharge.

* * *

The next morning the kids woke up early and Jack told Miko and Raf to wake Elita up to help them pack and they went ahead to do so. A moving truck came to also help because Jack called one.

Meanwhile, the other two went to wake up Elita by tapping on her hood and that startled her for a moment. ‘’W-Where am I-? How’d I get here?’’ She seemed to ask which was concerning. Raf and Miko looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. “Uh, you followed us, don’t you remember?” Raf told her awkwardly. Elita seemed to keep her mirrors tucked in to show she was scared still. 

‘’I-I….don’t seem to?” Elita stuttered, unsure of what to make of this but she used her holoform so she could help them. She was still in awe about the human anatomy as she went to play with her arms for a moment, meaning she moved it back and forth curiously. But Miko just shook her head at Elita and dragged her along. It took a couple of hours but they were finally done with packing and Jack went to go drive the truck. The other two grabbed the jeep. 

“Next stop, Crown City!” Miko piped and Elita had gotten the portal open when there was no one around and they had entered it, soon arriving back at base. Elita was the last to leave to maintain the portal. It was a smooth ride/teleport back to base. 

* * *

When they had arrived at base Bumblebee was there to greet them as well as the rest of the team. They perked up when they saw Elita’s portal coming through. 

“Raf!” Bee said his name enthusiastically and bent down to the human height. Raf immediately got out of the Jeep once it stopped to walk up to Bumblebee. ‘’Bee! It’s been so long!” He hugged Bumblebee’s finger as much as he could. 

Bee chuckled. “It indeed has.” 

Sideswipe walked over when he saw the kids who aided team prime in the war and raised a brow at Jack. “Soo….you’re the humans who helped Optimus, huh?” He asked. Jack nodded in response. 

‘’I’m Jack, this is Miko, and this is Raf.” He introduced them all. And Bee’s team did the same in return. 

Miko then noticed Grimlock and her eyes bugged out in surprise. ‘’Oh, you must be a Dinobot!” She assumed. The bots had talked about them being like Earths dinosaurs. Well, they knew what a Predacon was. Now they know what a Dinobot was. As Elita was maintaining the portal she was standing by herself at the other end and grew lightheaded for a moment before seeing the dark figure once more and being kicked through the portal suddenly.

Before Elita got kicked by the dark figure again she gasped and yelled, ‘’Hey, wait-!” But the figure didn’t listen and kicked her anyways causing Elita to close the portal behind her as she fell on her aft in the base which caused looks to be given towards her direction from the team

Bee immediately walked over to her. “Are you okay?” He asked her as she groaned and stood up slowly while she rubbed her helm from falling on the floor. 

“Did...you see that? I-I swear I’m not going crazy I just saw a figure and it just…..kicked me through the portal and laughed at me!” She told him and frowned as she looked at where the portal was recently. A figure? Bee frowned as well and looked at the others who shrugged. 

‘’Uh, There was no figure as far as we could see, ma’am,” Strongarm commented. Then the rest of the team decided to go back to chatting with the new humans that came along and Russel also introduced himself as well as his father. Immediately they started to connect as if they met already but they seemed to have stuff in common. As the team continued chatting Elita remained where the portal was last opened and kept looking around for said figure. She didn’t feel safe anymore. It was odd too. The figure had a familiar silhouette and completely white optics with a purple glow around the dark silhouette. What in Primus’s name was going on?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats! You made it to the end! Glad you're still with me!   
> This chapter was kinda fun! It was a bit new to write about humans. Haha.   
> Sorry if the descriptions are bad! I'm trying to improve with this fic!   
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Prisons and Predacons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta love a good game of DND right?   
> How about the Cybertronian version?

As the new members of the team settled into the base Elita was still trying to figure out what that dark silhouette figure was. It’s entity felt familiar but she just couldn’t put her digits on it. She didn’t understand what was happening to her. Perhaps it was due to the overwhelming new ability she had. Well, it wasn’t new, it was just considered new to her because she always had Optimus as her charger of some sort. Now she is able to use it whenever she wanted to at her own will. It was strange. 

Suddenly the sounds of the team arguing, mostly Sideswipe and Strongarm, could be heard. The humans, Bee, Grimlock, and Elita looked at the two. Elita sighed. 

‘Will you quit it-’’ Sideswipe began as he struggled to get Strongarm off of him.

Strongarm grumbled and refused. ‘’No, you quit it! You started it!” 

Elita sighed as she had her head turned and looked at them while frowning. ‘’Guys, it hasn’t even been two days yet.” She frowned more. Bee frowned as well and shook his head. 

“Grimlock, would you please break up the fight?” He asked. Grimlock happily turned into his Dinobot form and roared at both cadet and speedster which caused them to be startled and push each other away. They rubbed their audial receptors and looked at Bee. Elita was snickering as she watched the scene. She tapped her chin and tried to think of ways on how to assist Bee with these moments and gasped at an idea she had. 

“Heyy, How about we all played a game?! A good ol’ game of Prisons and Predacons?!” She asked excitedly and the team just gave her a questioning look. She giggled lightly as she was expecting that. The three kids from team Prime walked over as they grew interested. 

‘’Prisons and Predacons?” Raf decided to ask. 

“It’s….kind of a Cybertronian version of your DnD board games.” Elita mentioned. The kids looked at each other and couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought. 

“Oh! I used to play that a lot in college. Well, our version.” Raf mentioned. 

Sideswipe rolled his optics. ‘’Yeah, I..don’t really do board games. Racing is more my speed.” 

Strongarm rubbed the back of her helm, unsure of what to say to this. 

“What?! It’s one of the best team building games ever! Optimus and I used to do it all the time. We thought it was harmless to pretend it was all a bad dream.” She sighed.

“Just...wait here for a moment!” She told the team and excitedly wandered off somewhere, trying to set up a table for them.

Sideswipe just yawned sarcastically with boredom. He wasn’t really into board games. 

An hour or so later she presented them with a table and places to sit and some dice she found. She sat on the end of the table that was further than them. Bee team looked at each other and shrugged as they decided to sit down awkwardly. ‘’I know it’s not much but it’s cooler with the hologram on the table. But that’s besides the point of the game.” She mentioned. 

“So how do we play?” Grimlock asked. 

Elita grinned. ‘’We build our characters using…..uhhh these pieces of paper and let our imagination do the rest!” She tried to sound excited to keep their hopes up. She handed each of them a piece of paper and they all started drawing their characters. Some drawings were….not the best. 

The former pink commander had allowed them to take their time in drawing and creating there characters so meanwhile she was setting up the game due to being a lore master. She created the paths they took and she wanted this to be interesting as possible so even Sideswipe liked it. 

“Alright...I think I finished my character.” Bee spoke first and looked unsure as he stared at his drawing. Well...he wasn’t the best artist. 

Elita winced when she saw his drawing at first but tried working with it. ‘’Hmm,’’ She rubbed her chin and squinted her optics. ‘’I’m not exactly sure what name would fit that.” She was in deep thought. Then the rest of the team started talking about their characters. 

Strongarm showed hers proudly. “Here’s Stronamus! Famous witch of her village!” She tried coming up with a story on the spot but it went horribly. A good start but Elita would have to help. 

Grimlock showed his next and snickered. ‘’My human is named Lockwood!’’ He smirked. ‘’Defender of….uh cats?” He smiled awkwardly. 

Elita giggled. ‘’How about Lockwood the... tortle?” She asked and smirked. 

Grimlock frowned. ‘’Heyyy that’s just mean.” He pouted.    
  


“I just want to get this game started. Names aren’t really that important. It’s the adventure that counts!” She praised. 

Bee grinned at her. ‘’She’s right. Names in this situation really don’t matter. Just pick one and let’s play!” 

Sideswipe then dramatically showed his off. ‘’Here’s my character! Sideswipe the world's fastest thief that can also...also change into things!” 

Elita tilted her helm. “Really? A thief? Huh.” She stuck her glossa out playfully. “Alright then. I will start us off! Have you ever heard the legend of the lost city of  Doradus? The place that gave the bots who found it endless amounts of riches?’’ 

“Isn’t that place a myth?” Bee asked and raised a brow. 

Elita gave him a look. ‘’Will you let me tell the story please.” She told him then cleared her throat before continuing. Bee just closed his mouth and allowed her to speak.

‘’In order to find Doradus you’ll need to find the golden Sphere which contains the map on how to find it. The last bot who ever saw it last was the famous human witch Stronamus of the main town's village. Who is after it you might ask? Bumblebee the Paladin of heroism, loyal to his cause. He’s seeking revenge for his fallen elder twin brother, Lockwood and Sideswipe, the famous thief that was never caught just wants the riches and his pet tortle. Who will win in this brutal competition?” She ended it off with a smirk on her face and looked towards Grimlock or Sideswipe. 

Sideswipe grinned and began telling his story. They played for hours and hours it felt like. Bee, Strongarm and Elita grew close as they made their way through dangerous missions in the game and when they were done they cheered.

“Wow, I can’t believe how fun that game is! It’s such a good team building game!” Bee commented. 

Elita grinned and smirked. ‘’Nah, thank me later!” She acted all cocky at first but then heard the sounds of Strongarm and Sideswipe arguing again. ‘’Sideswipe it’s MY turn! You already told your story!” Strongarm argued while trying to push him away. 

“You skipped over my turn! Give me the dice!” He kept trying to reach over his head for the dice. 

Elita sighed and gave them a deadpanned look. ‘’Well, that was a bust.’’ She muttered with a frown and brought out her datapad and edited her character.

‘’On the bright side I upgraded my character by six points which makes me three points ahead of Optimus! WoooHooo!” She was excited at first but then frowned deeply at the thought of Optimus being gone again and lowered her door wings. She stood up and took her leave before she did anything rash. 

Bumblebee frowned when he saw her get up and leave. He felt just awful that he couldn’t do anything to aid her at this time. He sighed and looked over at Strongarm and Sideswipe. ‘’Grimlock, would you-?” Without another word Grimlock went over to Strongarm and Sideswipe and roared loudly in between them, causing them to stop arguing which they did when the yelled out of surprised by the sudden loud roar Grim gave them. 

‘’Thank you Grimlock.” Bee said.

“Anytime.” Grim replied with a chuckle while patting their helms. While it was nighttime all the sudden the team decided to go watch a movie with Russell and the kids from team Prime. 

* * *

Meanwhile, Elita seemed to be struggling with recharging. She took a few laps earlier before she went to recharge on a long piece of large metal as a makeshift berth. She was curled and kept moving around. 

But she did not have to suffer for long. Unknown to the other residence Optimus materialized himself in front of her and walked up to her, placing a servo on her shoulder. “Elita…’’ He spoke softly. 

Elita opened her optics easily when she felt the light touch and slowly sat up. “Optimus…?” She looked around, trying to see if this was real or not but she couldn’t tell due to being half asleep. 

“Did you come to take me with you?” She asked him sleepily and frowned deeply. 

Optimus chuckled and smiled sadly. “No, I have not. But the Primes allowed me the privilege of one night with you.” He sat down and wrapped his arms around her for heat. He knew she had gotten cold easily sometimes. 

‘’I wish you were here.” She began with a yawn in the middle of it as she snuggled into him. ‘’I wish you could see Cybertron. The lights and everything.’’ 

“I can still see Cybertron. Just not as easily.” The Prime replied. 

Elita smiled at him faintly. ‘’Yaaaay.’’ She praised. ‘’Do you plan on ever coming back? Things have gotten worse since you left. They kicked me out of the Hall of records! They won’t even allow Autobots in anymore.”    
  


That worried him. The Hall of Records was meant for all beings to look at Cybertrons recorded history. It’s meant for all. 

“Ever since that I’ve been trying to keep things in. I may seem okay from afar but….I’m terrified. I...feel as if I’m becoming Airel again! I do not want to be her. She’s weaker than me.’’ She told him as some tears came out of her optics. 

Optimus gave her a small peck on the cheek for reassurance. “Do not bottle yourself up. You will never become her. Your new friends will help you.’’ 

Eltia frowned. ‘’I know, I know.’’ She let out a bigger yawn this time and rested her helm against him with a small purr as she closed her optics. 

‘’Primus I forgot how warm you are~” She commented sleepily. 

Optimus chuckled again. ‘’I will always willingly be your personal heater, love.”    
  


“I love you~” She replied. 

“I love you as well.” He gave her another peck on the forehelm this time as she fell into recharge. It was the first night in a long time where she slept peacefully after he had been deceased. Optimus stayed by her as long as the Primes had let him but returned when they called him back. 

All there was left in the morning was his handprint next to hers…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the chapter is a little short but I was originally gonna have them all say their parts but personally its hard to write a story in a story for me- rip. 
> 
> I hope its just as enjoyable tho!


	7. FIC STATUS, MUST READ

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a status update on the fic.

Hello, readers! Writer speaking, 

Sooo, I have art college to attend to that will be taking up most of my time. I have classes starting this Monday in which I won't be available until 3pm for three weeks to do my own stuff but then there is the aspect of doing homework and projects. After that actual classes start happening but I think I will probably have some more free space to work on this then but it might change. 

But don't worry! I am still working on this fic. I'm just going to be incredibly slow from now on. Weekends I might update it more.

Who knows. But don't worry tho! I haven't given up on this story&plot yet! I plan to finish it! My only problems if I run into any will be motivation and writer's block. Ugh. 

But I hope you all enjoy what is out as of now! We are gonna get into the good stuff soon. Hehe. 

Hint: Old Enemies.

Also, I am going to be updating previous chapters because I thought of better ideas so look out for that too! 

Feel free to comment on your favorite part below if you have one already so far!


	8. Chapter 7 In Progress! (Preview included)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Update from the Author!

Hello readers! Don't worry I am still working on chapter 7! I know I probs messed up the numbering by putting these updates in the way but I'll probably delete them later to make it neater during break! But yeah my winter break from college is coming soon and I'll be able to find time to work on this some more finally! I am half way through chapter 7. It's just my motivation has been tRASH so bare with me. asdfghjkl

I hope you all are still enjoying this series!   
I might just work on chapters one by one then do the editing later cause i realized I left out some parts that I didn't think of when I first wrote this so prepare for some major editing at some point! And here's a small snippet for what's going on in the next chapter. To get y'all guessing or excited. Hehehe: 

“Primus, please...What if I need you?” She whispered to herself as she stared down at her servos with worry. What if she needed it and it doesn’t respond to her in time? Wh-What if it's not working properly because he's ....gone? She thought of almost a million ways of things that could go wrong if her powers didn't work. She furrowed her optical ridges and then narrowed them. She then had let out a low growl and lifted an arm as she started to form one of her time-stopping orbs. One of them glowed brightly in one of her servos. She angrily threw it at multiple trees nearby as she had let out a frustrated yell. 

She had watched multiple trees nearby snap and fall from her power with worry and winced at such damage being caused from just her. “What is the point of having time powers if it can’t be used for good?!” She let out another irritated growl for a moment then relaxed with a soft sigh, lowering her helm. She placed a servo on her forehelm, shaking it slowly as if disappointed at what she had become. 

“Impressive.” Another voice nearby could be heard. It was smooth. “We could use a bot like you.” 

Hope you all still enjoy it! 

Also how do you all feel about me making a possible Fancomic about this series? tehehe.   
I noticed on webtoons and stuff there was a lack of TF comics so I might make this into a legit fancomic maybeeeee. 

Anyways. See yall in a month or so. Idk when tbh. But enjoy! :) 

if you want more content from me in general my insta and tumblr is the same as my username here. (Almost everywhere is.) Also I have a discord server for this fic if you wish to join and chat about it!


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